The Annoying Little Sister
by BananaPieThiefX
Summary: Lexy Poole's parents are on an extened vacation, so she's staying with her brother, right in the middle of the hunt for the Templar Treasure! Will she drive them all over the edge, or will she prove to be a valuable help in finding the lost riches?
1. In the Arctic

**Description:** Lexy Poole's parents are on an extended vacation, so she's staying with her brother, right in the middle of the hunt for the Templar Treasure! Will she drive them all over the edge, or will she prove to be a valuable help in finding the lost riches???

**AN: **No, this is NOT a self insert, but it IS another OC fic... I always wondered, Riley annoys everyone, but what if someone was around to annoy _him_? Enjoy!!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Riley, or anyone else. Especially Riley. If I did, he would be a very, VERY stressed out person...

* * *

"I was thinking about Hanson and Perry, crossing this kind of terrain with nothing more than dog sleds and on foot. Can you imagine?" Ben seemed overawed by just that simple accomplishment.

"It's extraordinary." Ian answered him, peering out the window.

"Mmm hmm," I said, not really paying attention. Instead I was imagining a huge cup of hot chocolate. But what else would a fourteen year old girl think about in the middle of the Arctic circle? My brother's computer started beeping. It sounded so completely like an alarm clock that I suppressed the urge to ask where the snooze button was.

"Are we getting closer?" questioned Ian eagerly.

"Assuming Ben's theory is correct and my tracking model's accurate, we should be getting very close. But don't go by me. I broke a shoelace this morning." Ben and Ian turned around and stared.

"It's a bad omen," I explained.

Ian chuckled. "Should we turn around and go home?" he said.

"Or we could just pull over and throw him out here," suggested Ben grinning. Ian, Ben and I laughed. Riley just shot me a glare from the seat next to me.

"I didn't _have_ to bring you along," he reminded me.

"Uh, yeah you did." I argued. Mom and Dad were on an extended vacation, so for the next month or so, I would be living with, yep, you guessed it, my big brother Riley. Riley opened his mouth and the computer started beeping again, more loudly than before. "Geeze Riley, watch your language," I joked.

"So are we here?" asked Ian, breaking up the argument while Ben stifled his laughter at the dumbfounded look on Riley's face.

"Yeah, this is it." I started opening my door. "Ladies first!" shouted Riley, and he pushed me out of the vehicle and headfirst into a snowdrift.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" I screamed, and we started chucking snowballs at each other.

"Guys!" said Ben irritably, "Break. It. Up!"

Riley and I stood together, looking around. "I don't see any ship," I muttered. One of the guys from the other snowmobile agreed.

"This is a waste of time. How would a ship wind up way out here?"

"Yeah, Ri," I watched as Riley flinched at the nickname only I used for him, "tell us."

"Well, I'm no expert, but it could be that the hydrothermal properties of this region produced hurricane force ice storms that caused the ocean to freeze, then melt, then refreeze, resulting in a semi-solid migrating land mass that would land a ship right around here," he turned and walked off.

"Any idea what he just said?" I asked the guy.

"Not a clue."

"Good, me neither." I walked over to where Ben was. I heard a clang as his pickaxe struck metal. While Ben leaned over the metal plaque and tried to clean it off with some water, I decided to alert the others.

"Hey, guys," I called. Everyone turned and looked at me. I smiled. "I think we found something."


	2. The Charlotte

Everyone crowded around Ben and I. "Hello, beautiful," Ben whispered to himself.

"We did it!" I said excitedly. "It's really the Charlotte!"

"Alright, Ian, get the snowplows, we have some work to do…"

--------------------------------

After what seemed like an eternity, the entire ship was finally uncovered.

"Well?" I asked. "Are we going in or what??"

"After you," suggested Ben. Yeah, like I was going to go into the shipwreck first. But I didn't have to worry because one of the other guys opened the hatch and we all climbed down to a deck that was apparently the crew's quarters. Hammocks hung from the ceiling and took up most of the room. Riley began to look around. He lifted a frozen blanket and was greeted by a dead, decaying face looking straight into his. Anyway, he totally lost it and started backing away screaming, nearly knocking me over as he crashed into me.

"You handled that well," commented Ben sarcastically.

"Yeah, calm down, it's just a dead decaying, rotting corpse," I teased.

"Shut. Up," he warned.

"Or what, you'll make me touch the dead guy?"

"This is it!" announced Ben. Needless to say, we both shut up and stared at the door like it was made of diamonds or something. "The cargo hold!" he opened the door and everyone's eyes widened. Inside the room, on the ship Charlotte, which Ben had spent his entire life looking for… were barrels.

"It's empty," I said, disappointed.

"Or maybe it's in the barrels," suggested Riley shrugging. The others took it as a hint and began to open random barrels. But inside was only black powder. Ian sniffed it and I resisted the urge to laugh.

"Gunpowder," I revealed. Ian gave me an 'I was going to say that' glare. I grinned in return.

"I found something!" shouted Ben, earning me a 'told you so' look from Riley. I stuck out my tongue at him and stood next to Ben as he unwrapped a box.

"What is it?" I asked. It looked like a castle on a stick.

"It's a pipe!"

"Is it a billion dollar pipe?" Riley asked eargerly.

"It's a meerschaum pipe. It's beautiful." Ian carefully looked over the pipe.

"Is it a million dollar pipe?" I questioned, indicating that I had no idea what a meerschaum pipe was.

"It's a clue," mumbled Ben. He removed the stem of the pipe, and ignoring Riley and me cringing, he brought his knife to his thumb and drew blood. I made a face. I did _not_ like blood. Ben rolled the stem of the pipe across a page and examined it.

"Templar symbols." He whispered. I leaned over to read it.

The legend writ,

The stain affected,

The key in Silence, undetected.

55 in iron pen.

Mr. Matlack can't offend.

"What the heck does all that men?" I demanded.

"It's a riddle. I need to think. The legend writ, the stain affected. What legend? There is the legend of the Templar treasure, the stain affects the legend…." I sighed and listened to Ben go on and on and on about maps and legends and keys.

"An invisible map?" asked Ian, catching my attention.

"How can you have an invisible map??"

"The stain affected could refer to a dye or a reagent used to bring about a certain result, combined with the key in Silence undetected. The implication is to make what was undetectable, detectable. Unless the key in Silence could be…"

I opened my mouth to say I thought knew what that part meant, when Shaw interrupted me. "Prison." I shook my head. This guy was insane.

"Albuquerque. See, I can do it too. Snorkel." Riley replied. I laughed. Shaw glared at us.

"It's where the map is. Like you said, 55 in iron pen. Iron pen is a prison." He explained.

"I doubt it," I muttered.

"Or, it could be since the primary writing medium of the time was iron gall ink, the pen is… just a pen. Then why not say a pen, why say iron pen?" Ben began ranting again.

"Because it's a prison." Shaw muttered.

"Dude, give it up!" I begged exasperated.

"Wait, iron pen. The ink does not describe the pen, it describes what was penned. It was iron, it was firm. It was mineral, no, no, no, no. It was firm, it was adamant, it was resolved. It was resolved."

"Does he read thesauruses for fun or something?" I asked Riley.

Riley just shrugged. "He does that a lot."

"Timothy Matlack was the official scribe of the Continental Congress. Calligrapher, not writer. And to make sure he could not offend the map, it was put on the back of a resolution that he transcribed, a resolution that 55 men signed," Ben paused for dramatic effect.

"The Declaration of independence," I interjected. Ben glared at me.

"Come on. There's no invisible map on the back of the Declaration of Independence." Riley protested.

"It makes sense," I said.

"Clever, really. A document of that importance would ensure the map's survival. And you said several masons signed it, yeah?' Ian asked.

"Yeah, nine for sure." Ben answered, nodding.

"We'll have to arrange a way to examine it."

"Like _that's_ ever going to happen."

"Then what do you propose we do?"

"I don't know!" Ben shouted, upset that he had apparently reached a dead end. Ian paused.

"We could borrow it."

"Steal it you mean," I clarified.

"I don't think so." Ben said.

"Ben, the treasure of Knights Templar is the treasure of all treasures."

"I didn't know that, really?"

"Look, Ben, we all have our areas of expertise. You don't think mine is limited to writing checks, do you? I've arranged a number of operations of… questionable legality."

"I would take his word for it if I were you." Shaw muttered.

"I'll make all the arrangements." Ian offered.

"No." Ben protested.

"I need your help here."

"I said no!"

"OK, from this point on, all you're going to be is a hindrance." Ian nodded at Shaw, who pulled a gun from his coat and pointed it directly at Ben.

"Hey!" I protested. "What are you going to do? Are you going to shoot him Shaw? Well you can't shoot him. There's more to the riddle. Information you don't have, He does. He's the only one who can figure it out, you know that."

The gun swiveled around to me. "Oh really?" I gulped, Riley was staring at me, fear in his eyes.

"It's true Ian," agreed Ben.

Tell me what I need to know," Ian said, motioning Shaw to change targets again, pointing the gun at Riley, "or I shoot your friend!"

"Leave him out of this Ian." Ben ordered. He lit a flare. "Look where you're standing. All that gunpowder. You shoot anyone, I drop this, we all go up."

"He'll do it Ian," I said truthfully. I could see a weird look in Ben's eyes that told me he would.

"What you need to know… Is if Shaw can catch!" he threw the flare. I waited for the explosion while Riley shut his eyes. Ian grabbed the flare out of the air.

"Nice try, though, Ben," he gloated. Ian's sleeve caught fire, and in slow motion, the flare fell to the ground. Ian immediately fled with Shaw. I heard a thud from the other side.

"He locked us in!" I warned. "You guys, get over here!" Ben called from across the hold. I quickly followed Riley to where Ben stood.

"What is this?" Riley asked.

"Smuggler's hold. Get in!" Ben crawled in, the Riley, then me, shutting the trapdoor behind us. We crawled deeper into the tunnel and shut another door. Then came the explosion. After everything was still, we exited the ruined ruins.

"There's an Inuit village about 9 miles east of here." Ben informed us.

"Nine miles?"

I was ignored of course. "Ben, Ian's gonna steal the Declaration," moaned Riley.

"Then we stop him," he said. And we began to walk.


	3. Did Bigfoot Take It?

**AN: **I hope you like the chapter! By the way, a special treat for all of you who have read this far, I'm going to tell you that there will be a twist at the end! This story will not follow the script completely. How? You have to keep reading to find out of course!

**Discliamer: **I only own Lexy.

* * *

A few hours later we reached the village, bargained passage on a plane, and flown to Washington D.C. The next day we were in Riley's apartment. He and I were sitting comfortably on the couch, while Ben ceaselessly paced the room. I guessed that he always did that while thinking, because he'd done the same thing on the Charlotte. "So let's review," I said. "There's an invisible map on the Declaration of Independence, which Ian is planning to steal, which can be brought out using a certain type of chemical or dye. And we need the key in Silence, the Silence Dogood letters written by Benjamin Franklin himself. Now, we have to convince the FBI that something they're sure is safe, is about to be stolen, which is basically completely impossible, and still try to get the clue without stealing the most important document in American history. Am I missing anything?"

"No, I think you've about got it all," confirmed Riley, his eyes closed.

"Then we go to the FBI," said Ben.

"Maybe we should try the Department of Homeland Security first?" suggested Riley.

"Sure, fine, whatever," I said.

"Then we should go now. We probably don't have much time," Ben stood up and we left the apartment.

--------------------------

"What a waste of time!" I complained, walking out of the FBI building.

"Is it really so hard to believe someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence?" asked Riley, shaking his head.

"The FBI gets 10,000 tips a week. They aren't going to worry about something they're sure is safe," noted Ben. I nodded.

"Which is exactly what I said earlier," I reminded them. "Even though, you'd think that even a rumor of the Declaration being stolen would merit an investigation at the least."

"Merit?" asked Ben, surprised to here the word come out of the mouth of a fourteen year old.

"I use an extensive vocabulary when I'm upset," I explained.

"Guys, anyone who can do anything is going to think we're crazy. And anyone crazy enough to believe us isn't going to want to help," Riley pointed out.

"Well, look at us, we're one step short of crazy, what do you get?" asked Ben.

"Obsessed?" Riley guessed

I shook my head. "Ben we _are _crazy!"

"Passionate," corrected Ben. "So we talk to other passionate people." He walked off. I shrugged and followed him.

"So where to now?"

"The National Archives, of course," Ben replied. I sighed. More explaining. This should be fun.

-----------------------------

We sat in the National Archives, waiting for someone named Dr. Chase to become available to see them. I was reading a pamphlet on the upcoming Gala. Ben reached over and picked one up too.

"Dr. Chase will see you now, Mr. Brown." The assistant informed Ben.

"Mr. Brown?" Riley and I said at the same time.

"My family name doesn't get a lot of respect in the academic community." Ben muttered.

"So you're being kept down the man." We all entered the office to find a woman behind the desk. "Very cute man," mused Riley. I made a face.

The woman stood up and introduced herself. "Abigail Chase."

"Uh… Hi," said Riley.

"Paul Brown," replied Ben

"Nice to meet you."

"Lexy North," I said. We all looked at Riley, who finally took the hint.

"Bill," he said. I tried to resist giving him my 'what-the-heck-are-you-doing?' stare.

"He's my brother," I said.

"Ah. Nice to meet you… Bill. So, how may I help you three?"

"Your accent? Pennsylvania Dutch?" Ben asked.

"Know it all," I muttered. Riley nodded in agreement.

"Saxony-German." Abigail informed him.

"Oh."

"You're not American?" asked Riley incredulously.

"I am, I just wasn't born here. Please don't touch that!" she ordered.

Ben's hand shrank away from a collection of what looked like, buttons? "Sorry," he mumbled. "Neat collection. George Washington campaign buttons, you're missing the 1789 inaugural, though. I found one once.

I rolled my eyes as Abigail said, "That's fortunate for you. Now, you told my assistant this was an _urgent _matter?"

Ben took a deep breath. "Yes ma'am. Well, I am going to get right to the point. Someone's going to steal the Declaration of Independence." Ben informed.

"It's true," said Riley seriously.

"I think I should put you in touch with the FBI," she reached for her phone.

"We've… been to the FBI," I told her, not looking up.

"And?"

"They assured us the declaration cannot possibly be stolen," he said, quoting exactly the words the agent had told them.

"And they're right," observed Abigail.

"We are less certain. However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were in any danger." Ben said carefully.

"And what do you expect to find?" inquired Abigail. I sighed. _'Here it comes,'_ I thought.

"We believe there's an encryption on the back," said Ben for the third time that day.

"An encryption of what?" asked Abigail as though talking to a five year old.

"Uh… what's the right word…? A cartograph," I said, since Ben looked very uncomfortable.

The woman turned her gaze to me. "A map?" We all nodded. "A map of what?"

"The location of… hidden items of… historic and intrinsic value," Ben went on uncomfortably.

"Ah, a treasure map! Now, we're getting somewhere!"

"That's where we lost the FBI," Riley spoke for the first time in about ten minutes. A new record.

"You're treasure hunters aren't you?" asked Abigail curiously.

"Treasure protectors," corrected Ben.

"Right… Well, Mr. Brown, I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence, and I promise you the only thing there is a notation that reads 'original Declaration of Independence dated…"

"July 4, 1776, yes ma'am," Ben cut her off.

"But no map," Abigail got to the point.

Ben looked at me. I shrugged. Riley shook his head slightly. We could all see where this was going. The same way every previous conversation had gone. Ben sighed and leaned forward, staring into Abigail's eyes. "It's invisible," he revealed.

"And, that's where we lost the Department of Homeland Security." I muttered.

"What led you to assume there's this invisible map?"

"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200-year-old pipe." Ben said.

"Owned by Freemasons." Riley added.

"Can I see it?"

"Uhh, we don't have it," I stammered.

"Did Bigfoot take it?" She asked. Ben obviously noticed this was a lost cause and stood up to leave.

"It was nice meeting you." He said.

"Nice meeting you too." Abigail said with a slight smile.

"You know that really is a nice collection. Must've taken you a long time to hunt down all that history." Ben observed. We walked out to the main room, where the documents were on display.

"If it's any consolation, you had me convinced." Riley said.

"Me too," I added.

"I was thinking, what if we post the story all over the internet? It's like we have our reputations to protect or anything," suggested Riley. I glared at him.

Ben stood in front of the Declaration, staring at it. It was as if he hadn't even noticed us talking. "180 years of searching and I'm three feet away," he whispered. Then he raised his voice, but he sounded almost reverent. "Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's one line here that's at the heart of all the others. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, its is their duty, to throw off such government and provide new guards for their future security.' People don't talk that way anymore."

"I see," I lied.

"Yeah, no idea what you just said," Riley agreed.

"It means, if there's something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action." Ben looked from us to the document. "I'm going to steal it," he decided.

"Say what?" I asked.

"I'm going to steal the Declaration of Independence."

"Uh Ben!" shouted Riley. He and I glanced at each other and followed Ben outside. How our family got ourselves into this I'll never know, but I was beginning to wonder if it was a good idea.


	4. Listen to Riley?

**AN:** For once I have nothing to say :(

**Disclaimer: **I only own Lexy.

* * *

All three of us were outside the Lincoln Memorial. As usual, Riley and I were sitting and Ben was pacing. "Ben, are you even physically able to sit down?" I asked. "I mean, you're always, like, pacing."

"I pace when I think," shot back Ben.

"Ben, you shouldn't even need to be thinking about this. This is huge. Prison huge. You will go to prison, you know that, right?" Riley asked incredulously.

"Yeah, probably," said Ben casually.

"Well, that would tend to I don't know, bother most people," I reminded him. "On the other hand, between my computer hacking abilities," here Riley coughed loudly, "okay, _our_ hacking abilities, and combined intelligence, though most of it would be coming from Ben and me… OW!" I rubbed my arm where Riley had elbowed me. "Anyway, we could probably pull this off," I concluded.

"Ben, for god's sake," protested Riley, "it's like… It's like stealing a national monument. It's like stealing him." Riley pointed at the statue of Abraham Lincoln behind them. "It's not only that it shouldn't be done. It _can't_ be done. Let me…" he smiled. "Let me prove it to you." And he started down the steps towards the car, leaving Ben and I wondering what we would possibly be doing next.

--------------------------------

Okay, Ben, Lexy, pay attention. I've brought you to the Library of Congress. Why? Because it's the biggest library in the world. Over 20 _million_ books. And they're all saying the same thing. Listen to Riley." Riley informed us.

"I don't hear anything but my annoying older brother," I said.

Ben chuckled. Riley rolled his eyes and passed Ben and I some papers. "What we have here, my friend, and Lexy, is an entire layout of the National Archives. We've got builder's blueprints, construction orders, phone bills, water and sewage. It's all here. Now, when the Declaration is on display, it's surrounded by guards, and video monitors, and little families from Iowa, and little kids on their 8th grade field trips. And beneath an inch of bullet-proof glass, is an army of heat sensors that go off if someone gets too close with a high fever. When it's _not_ on display, it is lowered into a 4 foot thick, concrete, steel plated vault that just happens to be equipped with an electric combination lock and biometric access and denial systems," he looked from me to Ben. "It's impossible."

"Did you know Thomas Edison tried and failed nearly 2,000 times to develop the carbonized cotton thread filament for the incandescent light bulb?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" I asked Ben.

"The point is, he said 'I didn't fail, I just found 2,000 ways how not to make a light bulb.' But he only needed one way to make it work." Ben handed riley a book, which I tried to look at upside down. "The preservation room. Enjoy, go ahead. Do you know what the preservation is for?"

Riley shrugged. "Delicious jams and jellies?" he guessed. I laughed.

"Not exactly. That's where they clean, maintain, and repair all the documents and storage housings when they aren't on display or in the vault. Now when the case needs work…"

"They take it to the preservation room!" I interjected. Ben glared at me.

"Can't you control her?" he asked Riley. My brother just shook his head helplessly. Ben sighed. "Anyway, the best time for us, or Ian, to steal it would be during the Gala this weekend, when the guards are distracted by the VIPs upstairs. But we'll make our way to the preservation room where there's much less security," Ben explained. I nodded, it made sense to me.

"Huh…well if Ian…Preservation room… The gala… this might be possible," marveled Riley.

"Told you so," I muttered. _'Here we go,' _I thought.

"It might," confirmed Ben. "It just might."


	5. The Gala

**AN: **Some alien blasting, some shooting and the theft of the Declaration! A very interesting chapter! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Only if I were Jerry Bruckhimer. Which would be very _very _creepy.

* * *

After some clever camera placement by Riley and I, a few experiments with lemon juice by Ben, and a quick dinner, we were all ready to go. We arrived at the Archives on the evening of the Gala all ready to commit the biggest crime in the history of crimes.

"Are you really sure we should-?" Riley tried to protest but was cut off by the slamming of the van door. We looked at each other and put on our headsets.

Ben's voice cut through the ear phones. "Can you hear me?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," muttered Riley.

"Loud and clear, Ben!" I said.

We waited a little longer until I couldn't stand it any more. "Ben, where are you, did you make it in?"

"I'm in the bathroom," he reported.

"Shouldn't have asked," I muttered darkly.

"How do you look?" asked Riley

"Not bad actually," he said.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" I said under my breath.

"Mazel tov," Riley said quietly, grinning.

We sat around for a little longer. I opened up my laptop and started playing games on it in the window that wasn't showing all the cameras.

Suddenly Ben was talking again, but not to us.

"For you."

"Oh, Mr. Brown."

"Dr. Chase."

"What are you doing here?"

"Is that that hot girl? How does she look?" demanded Riley. I rolled my eyes and went back to my game.

Ben kept talking to the lady.

"C'mon Ben, hurry it up! Ian's trying to steal this thing too, remember?" I reminded him.

"Yeah, Romeo, get out of there," Riley told him impatiently. Ben ignored them all and kept talking, joined suddenly by another man's voice. "Who's the stiff?" Riley asked.

Ben still didn't reply to us, not that he could without arousing suspicion, but it still felt weird.

"Here, why don't I take this, so you can take that off his hands," Ben said, apparently to Abigail. "A toast, yeah? To high treason." There was a somewhat stunned silence on the other end. "That's what these men were committing when they signed the declaration," Ben explained as I blasted green aliens on my screen. "Had we lost the Revolution, we'd have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, Oh! And my personal favorite -

had their entrails cut out and burned!" Ben concluded, putting an accent on the last word.

"You have a real way with words my friend," I said over the mike in response to the continued silence from the others.

"So, here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right," Ben added. "What they knew was right…" he echoed. "Good night then."

"Alright Ben, that took long enough," I said.

"Yeah, this better work," added Riley.

"How's it look?"

"I think it's working," came Ben's reply.

"Unbelievable," marveled Riley.

"All right, we're in the elevator," said Ben.

"Cool," I replied. This was going better than expected.

"Okay," said Riley, "I'm turning off the surveillance cameras, you ready? Three, two, one, Ben, you're now invisible. What are the letters for her password?"

"A E F G L O R V Y" Ben read the letters out loud and Riley typed them in.

"Anagrams being listed. Top results, a glove fry, a very golf, fargo levy, gravy floe, valey frog," Riley ticked off these and more nonsense words.

"Valley Forge!" I interrupted.

"What?" asked Riley.

"She's right," Ben said. He typed in Valley Forge. "She pressed L and E twice."

"Told you so," I gloated. I exited my computer game and looked at the surveillance screen, identical to the one on my brother's computer. Ben waved at the camera.

"Hello," said Riley in the weird way only he could say it. Ben removed the screws from the case. "Alright, Ben, we're doing great," he encouraged. But time seemed to drag on and finally he said, "Ben, pick it up, I'm sure Ian's on his way! You've got about one-" The screen started going fuzzy.

"Uhhh, Riley?" I said.

"Yeah, Lexy, I know. This is bad. Very Bad."

"Riley, what's up?" Ben asked nervously.

"I lost my feed, Ben. I don't know where you are, I don't know where anyone is! I have nothing. Ben I have noth- Ben I have nothing! Get out!"

"What?"

"Get out!" I practically shouted.

"I'm taking the whole thing. I'll get it out in the elevator," Ben replied.

"What are you talking…Is it heavy?" Riley asked. I groaned.

"We are so dead," I said. As if to agree with me a bunch of explosions sounded over the headset. "Oh my God Ben!" I screamed. "Ben? Were those gunshots?"

"Who was that? Ben, Ben are you there?" Riley asked. No reply.

Then, finally, "I'm in the elevator. Ian's here. He was shooting." Ben explained extremely calmly.

"I hate that guy." Riley mumbled.

"Me too," I agreed. Then I sat back and sighed. This was beginning to be one interesting vacation.

* * *

**AN: **Bet you've never had a vactaion like this one, huh? 


	6. The Chase

**AN: **Oh boy a car chase!! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **Still own nothing but my Riley Ben and Abigail Mii's and Lexy.

* * *

Ben said a few more things over the headset. To me it sounded like he'd been talking to a cashier or something. I couldn't have even guessed why.

"Where are you Ben?" sang Riley from the driver's seat. "Where are you?"

"Stop talking," ordered Ben. "Start the van."

Riley obeyed. I stayed in the back to take the document from Ben. Riley's voice came over the headset again. "Ben, the uh, m-mean De-declaration lady's behind you," stammered Riley. Sure enough Dr. Chase was striding purposefully across the street. Ben opened the back door and handed me the Declaration. I noticed he still had something in his had though and wondered what he was up to. I screwed the top onto the protective tube just as Ben closed the door.

"Hey…" said Abigail

"Oh, it's you!" exclaimed Ben, trying to sound casual.

"Mr. Brown, what's going on? What that?" she added, gesturing at whatever was in Ben's hand.

"Souvenir," explained Ben.

"Really," Abigail indicated that she didn't believe him.

"Stop chatting and get in the van," commanded Riley through gritted teeth.

"So did you enjoy the party?" asked Ben, ignoring Riley.

"Yeah…"

"Ben, shut it and leave!" I said urgently. Just then the alarms all started going off in unison. Bystanders were getting out of their cars and staring at the Archives with huge eyes. Ben groaned.

"Oh my God," moaned Riley and I in unison.

"Oh my God," echoed Abigail. "You did not!" she cried, staring at Ben.

"Well, actually…"

"Security!" she shouted. Ben tried to protest but she grabbed the document from him. "Give me that!"

"It's yours, take it," he offered.

"SECURITY, OVER HERE!!!" She screamed, running across the street.

"We can't just let her go!" I argued as Ben climbed into the passenger seat.

"Yes, we can. Go!" he said to Riley. Riley was about to start driving when Ben held up a hand. "Wait, no hold it."

"Make up your mind!" I shouted.

"Hold it, hold it," he gestured out the window. Abigail was being captured. By Ian's men.

"Oh bad," I said.

"Bad," agreed Ben. "Bad bad bad!" He left the van and was trapped against the side by a shower of bullets. One hit the driver's side mirror and blew out Riley's window. I sat in the back watching the whole thing. The men took Abigail into their vehicle and started driving. "GO! GO!" shouted Ben. Riley sped off, following the truck.

"What are we gonna do when we catch them?" I asked trying to keep my balance.

"I'm working on it!" replied Ben.

"Right turn, right turn," muttered Riley as he struggled to control the van. The truck in front of us smashed through a construction barrier and we followed, bouncing violently over piles of dirt. "Skidding, skidding," Riley mumbled.

The back door of the lead vehicle opened and there was someone clinging to the top of it, swinging back and forth.

"Oh no," whispered Ben.

"Holy Lord!" cried Riley.

"Oh my God!" I shouted. Ben opened the side door of the van. One of Ian's henchmen, I think his name was Shaw, was shooting at us. "Oh my God!" I repeated.

"Get me next to her!" ordered Ben. Riley pulled over into the next lane. Ben leaned out of the van, grabbing a seatbelt to steady himself. I grabbed his arm. It might not help, but it could also be the difference between his life and death. "Thanks," mumbled Ben.

"Don't mention it!" I called. We sped forward. A bus came between our car and Ian's. Riley swerved to avoid it. Abigail's door swung inward and the document was pulled from her grasp. She swung back out, but now Shaw was shooting again. I hadn't even noticed he had stopped until now. A bullet went passed Ben's head and crashed into the wall of the van. "Hurry up!" I said.

"Abigail, jump!" shouted Ben, extending his hand. She did just that and I pulled Ben's arm, hard. We all fell into the van and collapsed onto the floor. Riley shut the door automatically. One more bullet bounced off the outside and then we turned away, escaping quickly.

"You alright?" I asked Abigail. She was hyperventilating, but then, she _had_ just been swinging on a car door over a highway going at least 50 miles an hour.

"No! Those lunatics, they stole…"

"You're not hurt are you?" asked Ben.

"You're all lunatics!"

"Are you hungry?" questioned Ben, catching her off guard.

"What?"

"Are you all right?" repeated the treasure hunter.

"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be OK, thanks for asking," responded Riley, breaking the tension slightly.

"Well, I'm not all right! Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" she cried.

"She lost it!" said Riley.

I grabbed the tube from where I had hid it. "They don't have it," I said, pulling it out of the case. "See?"

"Now can you please stop shouting?" asked Ben.

"Give me that!" Abigail lunged for the case. "A teenager holding the Declaration! It's ridiculous!"

"Hey, it's for the people," I pointed out.

"You're still shouting. And it's really starting to annoy. You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance," reprimanded Ben. Riley smiled to himself. I chuckled.

"If this is the real one, what did they get?"

"A souvenir. Exactly like I told you. I thought it might be a good idea to have a duplicate. Turns out I was right. Actually, I had to pay for both the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me 35 dollars, plus tax," Ben concluded.

"Genius!" marveled Riley.

"Who were those men??" demanded Abigail.

"The guys we told you were going to steal the Declaration," I explained.

"But _you _didn't believe us!" mocked Riley.

"We had to keep it safe, and this was all we could do," Ben said calmly.

"Verdammt… Give me that!" Abigail shouted, grabbing at the tube again.

"You know, you're shouting again!"

"I think she was swearing, too," muttered Riley.

"Well, you guys deserve that," I pointed out.

"Did not," argued Riley.

"There is _not _a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence!" said Abigail cutting across our argument.

"And there is no chance," Ben said, shaking the document, "anyone could steal this, either. I level with you 100 percent. Everything I told you was the truth."

"I want that document Mr. Brown. Now!" commanded Abigail.

"Good luck," I mumbled.

"Okay, my name's not Brown, it's Gates. I leveled with you 98 percent," he admitted.

"Wait a minute, did you just say Gates?" Abigail asked. Riley made a face at her tone of voice. "Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy with about the founding fathers!"

"It's not a conspiracy theory!" protested Ben.

"Per se," whispered Riley.

"I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane!"

"I get that a lot," I said indifferently. Abigail looked from me to Riley. I could see in her eyes that she knew we were siblings. It was kind of obvious actually; we had the same blue eyes, the same dark hair, the same sarcastic sense of humor, etc. She looked me up and down. She saw my t-shirt. It was black with a bunch of videogame mushrooms on it. Underneath them it read 'Know your mushrooms.' I caught her staring at it. "I like videogames," I explained.

"Who _are _you? How did a kid get dragged into this?"

"Teenager," I corrected. Then I nodded at Riley. "I'm with him. Like I said before, he's my brother. I'm helping them find the treasure."

She shook her head and turned back to Ben. "You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence in the back of a moving van to find some invisible map!" she was shouting again.

"We have a clean environment all set up, ETS suits, air filtration, the whole shebang!" said Riley.

"Really?" asked Abigail, sounding impressed.

"We, uh can't go back there…" said Ben uncomfortably.

"Why not?" I asked.

"I had to pay for the declaration with a credit card," admitted Ben.

I waved a rechargeable visa gift card in his face. "Good reason to use these," I said.

"A credit card slip?" asked Riley incredulously. "Dude, we're on the grid! They're going to have all our records from like forever!"

"I know I know. The FBI's going to be at my front door in a few minutes."

"What do we do then?" I asked.

"What?" said Abigail confused.

"Get off the road," said Ben, "Take a right."

I nodded. "Right, the letters."

"What letters?" asked Abigail again.


	7. Meeting Mr Gates

**AN: **Sorry it took so long to update! Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **None of this is mine.

* * *

"You have the original Silence Dogood Letters. Did you steal those, too?" asked Abigail. We were sitting inside the van, which was in a park. The door was open and I was next to Abigail in the back. Riley was still in the driver's seat and Ben was, surprise, surprise, pacing.

"I have scans of the originals. Quiet Please!" said Ben.

"How'd you get scans?" asked Abigail.

"I know the person who has the originals. Now _shush._" Okay, Ben was losing his patience. It was actually pretty funny.

"Why do you need them?"

"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" Ben asked incredulously.

Riley shrugged. I raised my eyebrows. "Apparently not."

"I'll tell you what, look. I will let you hold on to this," Ben handed the declaration to Abigail, "if you'll promise to shut up, _please_." She stared at the document, but she did so silently. "Thank you!"

"Ben, you know what we've got to do, short of getting a car with more seats," I reminded him.

"I know what to do. I'm just trying to think anything else we could do," explained Ben. Apparently he and his father didn't get along very well.

"Not to be a…uh, nudge, but do know how many people we have after us? We probably have our satellite by now," Riley reminded him.

"Yeah, Ben, you know, it took you all of 2 seconds for you to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence," I commented, putting extra emphasis on the title of the document.

"Yeah, but I didn't think I was going to have to personally have to tell _my_ dad about it!" said Ben angrily.

Abigail bolted suddenly from the van I tried to grab the Declaration from her hands but missed it. "Ben!" Ben turned around.

"Hey, not cool. Not cool!" he shouted. He chased her and caught her around the waist. Ben pulled the document from Abigail's grasp.

"Let me go!" Ben pulled the declaration away and released Abigail.

"Okay you're let go. Now go, shoo."

"I'm not going. Not without the Declaration," protested Abigail she grabbed the case as Ben slung it over his shoulder, pulling him forward.

"Well, you're not going with the Declaration," argued Ben.

"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going."

"Where?" Ben asked. "You are _not_ going with us with the declaration.

"Ben's got a weird way of showing when he likes someone," I muttered. Riley nodded in agreement.

"Yes I am," persisted Abigail.

"No, you're not."

"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going," Abigail said with a smile.

Riley groaned. I sighed. Ben and Abigail made their way towards the van and we drove off.

----------------------------

A couple hours later we got to Ben's dad's house.

"Looks OK." Riley observed.

"Park a couple blocks away." Ben ordered.

"How long do think we've got?" I asked.

"Give them a couple hours, at least. I hope," Ben said quietly.

"You hope?" I shook my head. "What about the Mean Declaration Lady?" I asked. Abigail glared at me.

"I've got some duct tape in the back…" Riley suggested hopefully.

"No, that won't be necessary," Ben defended her. "She won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?"

Abigail rolled her eyes. "I promise."

"See? She's curious."

We parked and walked over to Ben's dad's door. Ben rang the bell. The door opened. Ben forced a smile. "Dad!" he said.

"Where's the party?" he asked, glancing at all of us.

"I'm… uh… in a little trouble," Ben started.

Ben's dad looked straight at Abigail. "Is she pregnant?"

My eyebrows flew up my head. Abigail looked at Riley and me. "I look pregnant?" she asked, mortified. Riley and I shook our heads furiously.

"If she is are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild out in the cold?" Ben questioned.

"This better not be about that dumb treasure," Mr. Gates muttered. Then he raised his voice. "Well, have a seat. There's some pizza. Still warm, I think." Riley and I sat down. Abigail and Ben remained standing.

"Dad, I need the Silence Dogood letters. Yeah, it's about the treasure." Ben said in response to the look from his dad.

"And he dragged you three into this nonsense?" Mr. Gates demanded.

"Literally," said Abigail.

I gestured first at Riley then at myself. "We volunteered," I said proudly. Riley nodded in agreement.

"Well, unvolunteer!" ordered Mr. Gates. "Before you waste your life."

"Harsh," I murmured. Riley and I both grabbed pieces of pizza and began to eat as if we hadn't in days.

"Knock it off," said Ben annoyed.

"Sure I know, I'm the family kook!" ranted his dad. "I have a house, a job, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. I least I had you! What do you have? Them?" he gestured to me and Riley. Riley looked up with a mouthful of pizza. I swallowed.

"You know, somehow that offends me," I said.

Ben shook his head indicating that I should be quiet. "Look, if you just give us the letters we're gone."

"You disappoint me Ben." Mr. Gates said sadly.

Well, maybe that's the real Gates family legacy. Sons who disappoint their fathers."

I raised my eyebrows. "They get along well," I said sarcastically.

"Get out. Take your troubles with you," Mr. Gates commanded.

"I found the Charlotte."

"_The_ Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?" Ben's dad's expression became something I couldn't describe. Maybe amazement, or longing.

"Yeah. She was beautiful. It was amazing dad."

"The she got blasted into oblivion," I reminded them.

"What?" asked Mr. Gates. Riley elbowed me.

"Not helping!"

"And the treasure," sighed Ben's dad.

"No, no, but we found another clue, which lead us here…"said Ben.

"And that will lead to another clue, and that's all you'll ever find is another clue. Don't you get it Ben?" he began to rant again. He was no longer impressed, but back to being upset. "I finally figured it out. The legend said the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was, the legend was invented to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth."

"I refuse to believe that," I spoke up. Everyone looked at me. Then Ben nodded, slowly.

"Me too."

"You can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben. Do what you want." He said.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue," Abigail pointed out.

"Well, I can think of a way we can find out. And we can find out right now."


	8. You stole what?

**AN: **I know it's been a while, but I was busy with Page 47. So yeah, read away!

* * *

So Riley and I went back to our pizza while Abigail and Ben raided the house for declaration testing supplies.

"I'm Patrick Gates by the way," Ben's dad said to me.

"Lexy Poole."

Patrick gave me an odd look. "How'd someone you're age get involved in all this?" He asked me. "How old are you? Twelve, thirteen?"

"Fourteen." I replied, ignoring his first question. Did it really matter that my birthday had only been a week ago, April 13? Did I really only look thirteen? He continued to stare. I sighed and explained myself for the second time that night. "Riley's my brother. My parents are on vacation and he's looking after me. I wanted to help find the treasure."

"You said the Charlotte was blasted into oblivion?"

"Yeah, pretty much," I confirmed. The man shook his head.

"This is way too dangerous for a teenager! Ben should know that! Treasure hunting is not a game." He was speaking to me as well as himself. "You be careful, okay. All of you.

I-" He didn't say more because Ben and Abigail walked in with some lemon slices and q-tips.

"Get it," said Ben. I pulled the Declaration case from my brown messenger bag I carried everywhere. It had my laptop, I-pod, phone and anything else I needed to have with me, including the most important document in American history. We took it out and unrolled it across the table.

"Looks like animal skin. How old is it?" questioned Patrick with obvious interest.

"Erm… about 200 years," I said.

"Really? You sure?" he asked.

"Pretty darn." Ben said, nodding.

"Unless the history books are lying," I mumbled to myself. Ben glared at me.

"Now, if this thing is invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asked, changing the subject. I gave him my _you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me_ look.

"You don't have a clue do you?" I asked

"No." I rolled my eyes.

"Throw it in the oven," suggested Patrick.

"NO!" we all shouted simultaneously.

He raised an eyebrow. "Higher sulfate inks can only be brought out with heat," he informed us.

"Yeah, but this…" Abigail began as I continued to shake my head.

"Is very old. It's _very _old," interjected Ben. And we… we can't risk compromising the map, you know?"

He shrugged. "You need a reagent."

"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Mm, I'm fine."

Ben rolled his eyes and sighed. "Lemons," he said. Abigail passed him a lemon slice. He leaned forward to squeeze it over the document when Abigail grabbed his arm.

"Uh, you can't do that." Abigail said.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "But it _has_ to be done."

"Then someone who's _trained_ to handle antique documents is gonna do it," she told him pointedly.

"Score, Abigail two, Ben, nothing," I murmured to Riley, who started laughing uncontrollably. Another glare from Ben, to which I responded with a shrug. He handed the materials to Abigail, who took them.

"Now, if there is an invisible message, it will probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right hand corner," she said, probably showing off to Ben.

"That's right," he said, impressed. _Three to nothing_ I thought in my head.

She leaned over the document and carefully covered the Q-tip in lemon juice. Her hand hovered over the page for a moment. "I am so getting fired for this," she muttered. Then, finally, she swept the Q-tip across the upper right hand corner. We all stared. Abigail was looking at Ben with an _I-told-you-so_ look. Nothing was there.

_Okay, we're in a lot of trouble if nothing shows up,_ I thought, willing the parchment to change.

Suddenly Mr. Gates spoke up from the doorway. "I told you, you need heat." Ben and Abigail looked at each other, and slowly, together, they breathed on the corner. A templar symbol partially appeared and then faded. Riley and I grinned and high-fived, Ben looked very relieved and Abigail even seemed impressed. _That's a point for Ben_.

"We need more juice," marveled Ben.

"We need more heat," agreed Abigail.

About fifteen minutes and a bazillion numbers later, my hand was cramping and Riley finally asked. "It's not a map, is it?" I shrugged and wrote down another number.

"More clues, what a surprise," said Patrick with an air of sarcasm almost worthy of myself or Riley.

"Are they latitudes and longitudes?" I ventured, still writing as Ben spread the lemon juice and Abigail blow-dried. Don't even ask me why an old man had a blow dryer, because I have no idea.

"That's why we need the Silence Doogood letters." I took that as a no.

"That's the key?" asked Abigail.

"The key in Silence undetected. Dad, can we have the letters now?" I wrote down the last number.

"Can someone please explain to us what these magic numbers are?" asked Riley gesturing at himself and me.

"It's an Ottendorf cipher." Ah, the always specific Abigal.

"That's right," said Patrick nodding.

"Oh, okay," I said. "What's an Ottendorf cipher?" This was me and Riley together.

"Just codes," said Ben's dad dismissively, making me want to explode. Couldn't they just tell us _everything_?

Ben answered my unspoken plea for information. "Each of these numbers corresponds to a word in the key," he started.

"Usually a random book or newspaper article," clarified Abigail. I nodded.

"In this case the Silence Dogood letters. So, it's like that page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line. So, Dad, where are the letters?" Ben concluded.

"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather…" Patrick said.

"Dad…"

"Even found them. They were in an antique desk in the press room…"

"Ummm," I interjected.

"Of the New England Current," he continued. Then he added, "That's a newspaper."

"Dad where are the letters?" Ben asked firmly.

"I don't have them son." We all gawked at him.

"What?" said Ben.

"I don't have them," Patrick repeated.

Ben sighed. "Where are they?"

"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia," he said proudly.

"Time to go," said Ben. He pulled his rubber gloves off with his teeth.

Abigail shook her head, going to gather up the Declaration. "I can't believe it, all this time, and nobody knew it was on the back…" she marveled.

"The back of what?" asked Mr. Gates, suddenly stern. He reached across the table.

"Uhh," said Riley.

"No!" cried Ben at the same time I shouted "Don't!"

"Oh my God! Oh my God!!" Patrick looked like he was having a heart attack. This was going well.

"I know," said Ben calmly.

"Oh my god! What have you done? This is…This is…"

"I know!" Ben said again.

"This is the Declaration of Independence!" he moaned.

"Yeah, we kind of know that," I pointed out. Meanwhile Abigail was prying it from his grasp.

"Yes, and it's very delicate," she said.

"You, you _stole _it?!" he was livid. Riley and I pointed at Ben. Patrick turned to his son.

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. You saw the cipher," Ben rambled. I hoped he wouldn't sound like this when he explained it to the FBI. We'd all be doomed.

"And that will lead to another clue. And that will lead to another clue. And that's you'll ever find. There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life, and now you've destroyed yours." He paused. "And you've pulled me into it."

Ben looked up at him. "Well, we can't have that," he said. He went to the car and came back with the roll of duct tape.

"If it were my dad," I muttered, looking at it in his hands, "I would _so_ be grounded for this."

We left him taped to a chair with a soda and the TV remote. Then, we took his car and hit the road. We could hear the FBI sirens approaching as we left. Man that was close. Riley and I were in the back seat, leaning against opposite sides of the car. Riley was clutching the Declaration, and the bag that never left my side was in my lap.

"Your dad's got a sweet ride." Riley mumbled. I didn't say anything, I was staring out the window.

"I think we should change clothes. We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?" Ben said to Abigail.

"I'd like to go shopping too, but we have no money," I reminded them.

"Here, I took this from his house. He usually tucks a few hundred dollars between the pages," Ben handed Abigail a small book.

"Common Sense. How appropriate," Abigail muttered.

"You say that like we don't have any," I protested. She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Just saying," I said.

"When are we going to get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley said.

"I think that's just you." I grinned.

"Shut up!" The rest of the ride passed in silence, and eventually, I fell asleep.


	9. Solving The Riddle

**AN: **It has been awhile hasn't it? Ah well, I'm not dead, so enjoy the story...

* * *

"And what if someone recognizes me?" I was arguing with Riley while Ben and Abigail were shopping with the stolen money. Amazing that having stolen money didn't even phase me.

"That's why we're here and Ben isn't. He's being chased by the FBI, not us," explained Riley.

"Whatever…" I said. I pulled my favorite pair of orange rimmed sunglasses out of my bag. It was pretty bright out.

"Besides, it's much less suspicious for a kid to be counting letters on the Silence Dogood letters than an adult, isn't it?"

"Is it?" I asked.

"JUST GO!!" he practically shouted.

I rolled my eyes and shouldered my bag. Then I set it back down. "Don't. Touch. Anything," I warned slowly. And I set off for the Franklin Institute, pencil and notebook in hand.

The letters were very nicely arranged in a pretty glass case. Very museum-like. But this was a museum or at least something like that. I looked at my notebook, sighed and started counting. The first five letters T H E V I. 'Kay. So far so good. I ran back out to my brother to give him the letters. How hard could this possibly be?

85 letters later (S S A N D) I was beginning to feel doubtful. My sunglasses were pushed back up on my head, and my eyes had just finished scanning the pages. Again. For the seventeenth time, actually, but who was counting? I slipped the paper in my pocket, turned around and gasped.

"Oh my God," I muttered. There was _no_ getting out of this one; I mean Ian Howe was right there, heading straight for me. I slipped the sunglasses over my eyes and tried to discreetly get out of his way. Then, horror of horrors, he looked right at me… and nothing happened. He just turned away and headed toward the letters. I could've shouted with joy, but I didn't and I was safe. But there was no way in heck that I was getting the last four letters. Nope. Nothing, zero, nada. Getting captured by Ian: Bad. Getting someone else to get the last four letters: Good.

I crossed the street and sat down. "S S A N D," I said. "Oh yeah, and Ian's here." I looked down at his newspaper where he had stopped writing the clue to gape at me. "That doesn't look very much like an N," I commented.

"Wha…who…Ian?" Riley stammered.

"Yeah."

"So… what do we do now?"

"Do you have ten dollars?" I asked. Riley took out ten dollars and I grabbed it from his hand. I walked up to a kid about ten or eleven years old who was walking by. "Hey, you want to make ten bucks?" I asked. The boy looked at me suspiciously. "It's legal," I said. Hah! Legal! It was only a small lie after all. What the kid was doing would be legal.

"Okay, what do you want?"

"Listen carefully," I said. I explained the Ottendorf Cipher to him and gave him a page from the notebook. "Just bring that back. You can have the money now," I handed him the ten.

"Why aren't you doing it?" he asked.

"Because I'm lazy and I wanted my brother to lose ten dollars." The boy grinned. I guess he had a sibling at home too. He crossed the street and went into the institute. I went back and sat down by Riley.

"Why didn't you use _your_ money?" he asked, pouting.

"I didn't want to," I retorted.

"Immature."

"Can't be talking."

Riley rolled his eyes and went back to the clue. "The vision to see the treasured past, comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of pass and…"

"Pass and what?"

"That's the last four letters stupid!" Riley said. He looked up at the bus in front of us. It was big, completely blocking our view of the institute and had a big sign about the Liberty Bell. "Pass and… Pass and…" he went on like this for a while looking from the bus to the clue. "Pass and Stow!!" cried Riley, jumping up.

I grabbed my bag and hurried after Riley, who was already running, leaving a very confused little boy coming across the street behind us. "I guess we better find Ben," I said.

"You think?" asked Riley.

"More than you." My brother groaned. I think I was making this a very long few days for him. And I was proud of it.

* * *

**AN: **Phew! That was close. Poor Ian. He saw only what he expected to see.


	10. The House of the Liberty Bell

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* * *

**

AN:

I'd like to thank daisyduke80 for being the only person to review my last chapter! So uh... enjoyeth.

* * *

I will NOT be updating Dictator's Diary until I finish this... tell your friends...

We ran into the store, Urban Outfitters. Wow. I bought most of my clothes at Target if I could. I wasn't the 'shopping' type. Not really normal, but oh well. We caught them as they were checking out.

"Hey!" said Riley

Ben looked relieved. "Riley, Lexy, did you get it?"

"Oh, we got it," I said nodding. "The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow…"

"Crosses in front of the house of Pass and Stow," Riley interrupted. "Now, Pass and Stow referring to…"

"The Liberty Bell!" Ben and Abigail said together.

Riley sighed. "Why do you have to _do_ that?" he asked.

"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell," explained Abigail.

"I have no idea how that answered Riley's question" I pointed out. Abigail glared at me. "Okay, so what's the rest of it mean then?"

"Wait a minute. The vision to see the treasured past must refer to a way to read the map." Ben mused.

"I thought the cipher was the map." Riley said.

"No, the cipher was a way to find the _way_ to read the map."

"That clears things up," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "You know Ben; you're very good at confusing people."

"The way to read the map…comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the Liberty Bell!" Abigail realized.

"Crosses in front of the house of the Liberty Bell"

"Independence Hall!" Ben glared at me for interrupting him. Again. I grinned at him.

"So… Timely shadow… it's a specific time," said Abigail.

"Uh, What time?" my brother asked.

"What time?" Realization spread across the treasure hunter's face. Ben turned to Abigail and gestured at her. "You're going to love this," he said. "Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred dollar bills I paid you with?"

The cashier shook her head. "No…" she said. Surprise surprise. Ben blinked.

"Well… uh… I have this watch, this diver's watch. It's called a submariner. I dive with it." No duh. "It's really quite valuable; you can use it as collateral…" Ben offered.

She handed over a bill. "Whatever."

"On the back of a hundred dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall, based on a painting done in the 1780's, and the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin. It's wonderful."

"Yeah fascinating," I muttered.

"Hold this." He handed Abigail the Declaration, ignoring me. Then at the last second, he hesitated.

"I'm not going anywhere," she promised, and Ben released the document.

"If we look at the clock tower, maybe we can find the specific time…"

"Wow, what easy clearly defined numbers," I said, squinting at the money.

Ben snatched a water bottle and used it to magnify the clock.

"It says… two…twenty two." Ben set the bottle back down. "What time is it now?" he demanded.

"Almost three," said the cashier boredly.

"We missed it?" I asked. Ben nodded in defeat.

"No we didn't." Everyone looked at Riley. "We didn't miss it because…" he paused. "Wait… you don't know this? I know something about history that you don't know?"

"I would be very excited to learn about it Riley," prompted Ben through gritted teeth.

"Hold on a second. Let me just… just, take in this moment." I groaned and rolled my eyes, which made Riley drag it out even longer. I'd never admit it, but secretly that's what I wanted. I was enjoying someone knowing more than Ben too.

"This is… cool," Riley marveled. "Is this how you feel _all_ the time? Well… except for now, of course, but…"

"RILEY!" said Abigail

"I do think she's rather irritated at you," I observed. More glares. "Glaring at me is very popular today," I said, which made both the glarers -cough-BenandAbigail-cough- turn back toward Riley.

"Alright!" he said. "What I know, that you don't know," he faltered for a moment under Abigail's look, "is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War One. So if it's three pm now, okay, that means in 1776, it would be _two_ pm."

"Riley, you're a genius!" praised Ben.

Abigail said "Let's go!"

"Yeah. Genius. Hey, do you guys know who the first person to _suggest_ daylight savings was?"

"Benjamin Franklin!" we all said. Riley pouted and stomped his foot in defeat, and we headed for the house of the Liberty Bell.

--

We started with a tour group. Riley and I making fun of the tour guide's accent. ("An' these hear art-EE-facts…") It was laugh out loud funny. Which is exactly what we were doing. Ben tugged us away from the speech about 'Tha' Decle-_ray_-tion' and we ducked under the DO NOT ENTER sign. We climbed up into the bell tower.

"What bell is this?" asked Riley.

"The Centennial bell, replaced the Liberty Bell…"

"In 1876." Ben decided not to glare this time.

"Why?" he asked.

I grinned wickedly. "Well… 100 years is a century so…"

Ben rolled his eyes and checked his watch. He pointed out the shadow. "I'm going down there and you guys meet me in the signing room. Okay? Good."

"No, not okay, bad," I protested. "I want to go get it." I gave Ben my there-shall-be-no-arguing-from-you look. He backed down.

"Okay, okay."

As I left I heard Riley mutter "3:22. My idea."

Out on the roof of Independence Hall, I looked down on Philadelphia. It was incredible. I followed the shadow and found that it laid on a brick with one of those Templar thingies carved into it. I took the knife Ben had given me and cut it out. Nothing. The brick seemed really light though. I turned it upside down and shook out a pair of old colorful glasses. "Sweet," I said. I stuck them in my pocket, replaced the brick, and headed back to the signing room.

"What's you score?" asked Riley. I held out the glasses to Ben.

"Some kind of ocular device," He murmured.

"Glasses," I corrected.

"The vision to see the treasured past?" asked Riley. He took them from Ben, who took the Declaration case from Abigail.

Riley examined the glasses. "They're like early American X-ray specs!" he said.

"You know, Benjamin Franklin invented something like these," noted Abigail.

"Uh, I think he invented these," said Ben.

"Well what do we do with 'em?"

I raised an eyebrow at Riley. "Are you serious?"

"We look through them," informed Ben.

"Help me," ordered Abigail. Riley and I helped Mean Declaration Lady unroll the document.

Ben let out a small sigh of awe. "What?" I asked.

"It's just that, the last time this was here, it was being signed." We all held a short, respectfulish silence.

"Ben, there's another tour coming." Riley was right. Being caught now would suck.

Ben nodded. "Turn it over." We did. "Spectacles," he ordered. Gosh, couldn't he just call them _glasses_? Riley handed them over.

"What do you see?" asked Abigail and I together.

"Is it a treasure map?" asked Riley. His eyes lit up at the thought of the treasure.

"It says… 'Heere at the Wall,' spelled with two E's. Take a look." He handed the glasses to Riley, but Abigail and I both grabbed for them, and Abigail won.

"Wow," she marveled.

Riley groaned. "Why can't they say got to this place, here's the treasure, spend it wisely?"

"The same reason I always mess with your stuff. Just to annoy you," I explained. I was actually pretty annoyed too, but I didn't have to _say_ that, now did I?

Ben looked up and saw out the window. "Oh no," he groaned.

Riley got a closer look, peering at Ian's men. "How'd they find us?"

"Well, Ian has nearly unlimited resources. And he's smart," Ben said.

Abigail shook her head. "I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted.

"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together," said Ben.

"So what do we do?" I asked, not wanting to get killed.

"We separate the lock from the key, we're splitting up."

"Good idea," agreed Abigail.

"Really?" asked Riley. He looked at us for a moment. He obviously thought Riley and I should stay together, but figured also he'd be in more danger and didn't want to carry it over to Abigail.

"Okay, you three stay together. I'll take this and those," he grabbed the empty case and glasses, "and you take that. Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems."

"Like if we get caught and killed?" Riley asked.

Ben nodded. "Yeah, that'd be a big problem." He sighed. "Take care of her."

"I will," we all said. Riley looking at Abigail, her and me looking at the Declaration. Apparently I was on my own. Ah well. We took the document and left the room…

* * *

DOTS! OH THE SUSPENSE!! :P Review people!


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